Some computer probs

[Quadriflax]

Problem 1:

Running Win98 (not SE). Everytime I start up I get some message telling me there might be errors on my HD and that scandisk has to run. When scandisk runs, however, it hangs when it tries to scan my D: drive, forcing a reboot and an endless cycle. The only way to break the cycle is to hit ESC before it can reach 2% complete, tell it to exit, then it boots properly into Windows after telling me I'll need to run the Windows scandisk. So I try running the Windows scandisk. The same thing happens, only now all of Windows crashes and I have to reboot. The interesting thing is when I force a reboot I get the scandisk message again, but it starts with my C: drive because it wasn't shut down properly. So I can force exit that and Windows boots fine.

What could be causing this? Is there a way to reinstall scandisk? I can't believe both DOS and Windows versions would be affected. Can it be related to my drive? All the files are still on it and I can use them fine so I don't think it's damaged.

Problem 2:

I can't seem to write CDs anymore. I have a Plextor 8x drive and I keep getting buffer underruns. I've tried closing all running virus scanners and things, different programs, and turning the burning speed down. It gives errors about reading files that I know are good, leading me to believe it might be a HD thing.

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Everything seems to work fine except burning and scandisk when I can actually get into Windows. Would a reinstall fix this or does it go beyond software? The only other thing I can think of is power. I'm running a 250W power supply and I might need more. I've never had any brownouts or random resets, or any of those kinds of things that I've been told to look for. Could I have damaged something? Any advice from those who know more than I do would be of great help. Thanks.

 

[ToMaTo]

this will be of little help ,but i know there is a way of shutting off auto scandisk..but forget exactly how to do it but there is a way i am sure in your system settings somewhere

 

[Quadriflax]

I just tried reinstalling Windows and it won't let me because I can't complete a scandisk on my D: drive. It stopped when it was trying to check the FAT. I don't know if that has anything to do with it. I figured if the FAT was bad I wouldn't be able to read my data, but as I mentioned it's all there. Any way to see if that's the problem and/or fix it with something other than scandisk (or a format)? This is irritating. I'm going to try disconnecting the drive and see if the problem goes away. If it doesn't then I have NO idea...

edit: tomato, I did as you said and disabled auto-scandisk. It worked! It was a setting in TweakUI. So no I can get into Windows normally, but I still need to acually fix the problem. If anyone can help out I'd still appreciate it. (sorry if I'm ranting, but this came out of nowhere, I'm a little peeved, and all my computer buddies aren't around).

 

[fivefeet8]

Try reinstalling windows... But first, reformat your hd.. Use fdisk from Msdos and delete the damaged partition or hard drive.. Then reformat and reinstall windows.. If that doesn't work, then I think your hd is screwed..

 

[antime]

If your HD manufacturer has a drive diagnostics tool I'd recommend using that.

 

[Zziggy00]

check your computer for viruses to make sure there isn't something writeing to the hard drive while your running scandisc otherwise it will give you and error or crash. You've probably already done this but what happens when you run scan disc from Safe Mode?

 

[Quadriflax]

When I run scandisk from safe mode it also hangs and crashes. It can scan my C: drive perfectly fine, it's just my D: drive that it screws up on. I'd back up my D: and reformat it, but I can't since I can't write CDs without it underrunning.

The only thing I can think of is my power supply. Like I said, I'm only running 250W and this all didn't start happening until I tried to burn a CD (which I assume takes extra power). Could it be related to this? I was told by my friend that it would start resetting and things like that, but I don't have that problem at all. I can always get a new one if anyone thinks that might be the cause.

And I also tried running Maxtor's diag tools, but they didn't run. Something about not being able to load DOS when I booted from the disk it made.

 

[ToMaTo]

I would guess possibly that your HD may be on its last legs but you never know...

 

[Cynnamin]

Sounds like you've got bad sectors on your harddrive.

I had the same problem with Win98 and had to format every 3 months or so because even though those sectors would get marked as bad during the install, eventually they would continue corrupting stuff around them...

Turned out after about 2 years the first 1/3 or so of the harddrive was bad.

If you have bad sectors and you try to burn a cd and its cacheing to the drive that has the bad sector, you're going to get an error.

 

[Quadriflax]

Shit. I just got the thing not but 6 months ago. I'll look into that possibility. I really didn't want it to be that, but I fear it may be. I'll ask some of my friends what they think. Keep giving me ideas if you guys still got 'em. You can email me or PM me if you think that's more appropriate. Thanks again.

 

[Raijin Z]

The only solution is to remove the drive or reformat it (if you got a fucking partition running). Start making backup discs.

 

[RitualOfTheTrout]

Yes i agree with the previous post.. Chances are you cant fix the problem without formatting/removing the drive.

As for the power supply thing.. I take it ure CD writer did work b4 and now has quit working.. I find it hard to beleive that all of the sudden your hardware just realized it wasnt getting enough power and decided to quit working.

 

[Quadriflax]

Yeah, it's gotta be the drive. I finally got Maxtor's diag software running and it reported two errors. I can't format until I can find someone who will let me copy my HD over to theirs. I can't make backup discs since my CD Writer is messing up. It actually made a few correctly, so it's probably not a power thing. But since the files I was trying to burn were on the D: drive it could have caused some problems. I contacted Maxtor and will hopefully get a quick response. Thanks for all the ideas anyway. So my vote now officially goes to Western Digital for HDs.

 

[Curtis]

You might have a screwed up Master Boot Record - try typing fdisk /mbr in a dos prompt on your d:\ drive. It might help, or it might not, but it won't harm your drive or damage the information on it in any way. Chances are you have a more permanant problem though.

 

[ToMaTo]

Make sure you get that HD copied over ASAP before it dies for good, trust me I know all too well.

 

[Quadriflax]

I actually had a lot less to back up than I thought. Most of it isn't really that important. I found that if I copied the files from the D: to C: I could burn them w/o any issues. That helped. Now all I have to do is wait for Maxtor to reply. I think this is my computer rebelling for me not being around all summer. First the motherboard, now this

 

[mtxblau]

You could also try:

chkdsk/f

I had an issue where a reformat wouldn't complete because of bad file sectors or something like, and that fixed it right quick.